My son is now a senior and he's had a part-time job since high school. He is responsible for paying for his books, transportation and food. I pay for his tuition and fees which amounts to around $20K per year.

My daughter is a national merit scholar and received a scholarship that covered tuition, her room and paid her a stipend. Since she's also farther from home, I pay for her car, airfare and to feed her plus some miscellaneous expenses. I think I'll spend between $7500 and $10K per year for her education.

Both kids went to a private high school, so we (to some degree) got used to paying tuition before they headed off to college. We've been fortunate to be able to afford their educations, but we've certainly sacrificed to do it (I drive a 20 year-old car).

I worry about the kids who graduate (or don't) from college with large amounts of debt. Not only have we burdened them with a payment plan, but we've taught them that you should just borrow money for anything that comes along. If there are two things I'd like my kids to see patterned by their mom and I it's to save for what you want to buy (instead of financing it) and that it's okay to not have everything (at least right now).

The mistakes my wife and I made when she graduated from college and we became DINKs (Dual-Income, No kids) was that we didn't realize how much disposable income we really had (we should have saved a lot more) and we thought we could afford everything our parents had accumulated through-out their life-times.

This is probably a longer answer than you want to hear, but our decision to help them was born out of our experience. My parents paid for my college but my wife's did not (I actually paid for her last year of her undergrad and we took out a student loan for her master's degree). We've warned our kids about the risks of easy credit and showed them how to save for things they want/need ... it wouldn't seem right to also throw them into student loans if there was any way to avoid it.

As a final note I should also state that I think their work-ethics are stronger because of their up-bringing. They're going to make pretty good employees if someone gives them a chance.

A few questions for you:

a) Where are you going to school? b) What are you majoring in? c) Are you passionate about the jobs you'll be qualified for? d) What percentage of your future income will be required to service your debt?

I have to admit I'm a bit intrigued by students who frequent HN and have their curiousities intact. Ciao.

Interesting! If you don't mind me asking, what kind of paths are they pursuing (ie lib arts v. pre-law/pre-med v. engineering)?

As for me:

I'm attending the College of William and Mary in Virginia (small public school, primarily liberal arts) and double majoring in CS and Business (ironically, I came to the College as a prospective English major -- I only switched less than two years ago, and haven't looked back.)

I had the opportunity this summer to intern for Big Tech and it was literally the best three months of my life, so I'm confident that programming is the way to go for me. At the same time, I feel as though I've had a tremendous advantage by being 'the computer guy' in most of my b-school classes, and I definitely don't share the stereotypical disdain of managers/business folk.

In terms of debt, I'm going to be graduating with only barely four-figures, thankfully in part to a) Pell Grants (state-granted need scholarships), b) merit scholarships, and c) working 20 hrs/week since freshman year. Another commenter mentioned that it's pointless to work during college because it barely puts a dent in tuition, but I've found:

- Working minimum wage at the rec center might not give you that much money, but I was able -- as a 16-year-old college freshman -- to make at least $20/hr (much more at this point) through tutoring and basic (talking Wordpress and CSS here) web design. $20/hr * 20 hrs/wk * ~15 weeks/semester = $6000/semester. - Despite the amount of 'get an internship! get a nice resume!' advice thrown at college kids, very few of them actually follow through. I've interviewed with more industries than most other undergrads, and found that universally having two-three solid experiences (ie. not lifeguarding) is a huge differentiator.

My son studying "Media Effects" and will also get a minor in IST. My daughter is pre-med with an emphasis on medical research (as opposed to eventually having a practice).

It sounds like you're in pretty good shape financially as well as being in a field you love. I suspect you'll gradually learn to share the "distain" of management and business folk (I've been both) because you'll have plenty of "Dilbert moments". The good news is that there are plenty of good managers and business folk too, but they don't create funny comments. Just reserve your distain for people that earn it, keep that distain to yourself and you'll do fine.

In 1980 when I started UCB, my part-time work allowed me to pay for my college fees and expenses (my parents picked up the apartment cost the first 2 years). When I got out I had no debt. The cost of UCB for 1 year was less than $1000. That cost is 20x, at least, now. Given the costs we're talking about, working while going to school won't make a dent in the overall indebtedness, so I'm guessing students today just don't do it for that reason. There's no point. For me, it was a clear decision.